In January 2005, David Nunan, the President of Anaheim University was selected as one of the "Top 50 Australians Who Matter". Nominees for the list were selected based on their contributions to making the world a better place, and David Nunan was selected as one of the top 6 "communicators" who give the world an impression of itself.

Other globally influential Australians on the list included Peter Doherty, the 1996 Nobel prize for medicine recipient; Douglas Daft (Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola), Rod Eddington (Chief Executive Officer of British Airways and board member of News Corporation), Rupert Murdoch (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of News Corporation), world-record setters in swimming, surfing, wheelchair racing, and cricket, Film Director Peter Wier, Singer Kylie Minogue, Entertainers Cate Blanchett, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Paul Hogan, Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, and Oscar winners Mel Gibson, Geoffrey Rush and Russell Crowe.

David Nunan, President of Anaheim University, has been with the California-based institution since its founding in 1996, when he played a central part in the development of the University's ground-breaking interactive online learning system. Dr. Nunan is a world-renowned linguist and best-selling author of English Language Teaching textbooks for Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Thomson Learning. His ELT textbook series "Go For It" is the largest selling textbook series in the world with total sales exceeding 1 billion. In 2000, David Nunan served as President of TESOL, the world's largest language teaching association, and was the first person to serve as President from outside North America. David Nunan has served as Chair and Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Hong Kong since 1994 and has been involved in the teaching of graduate programs for such prestigious institutions as Columbia University, the University of Hawaii, Monterey Institute for International Studies, and many more. In 2002 Dr. Nunan received a congressional citation from the United States House of Representatives for his services to English language education through his pioneering work in online education at Anaheim University, and in 2003 he was ranked the 7th most influential Australian in Asia by Business Review Weekly. In November 2006 Dr. Nunan was awarded the Convocation medal for outstanding achievement and contribution internationally to the profession of Teaching English as a second language, from Flinders University, where he earned his Ph.D. in Education and Linguistics. In December 2006 David Nunan was invited by the Australian Prime Minister as one of the 100 Leading Global Australians to attend a summit in Sydney, Australia.